Tag: Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Following last year’s dissection of Frankenstein’s make-up in 2014, Jokerside turns to the original Dark Knight – the one who’s never allowed to retreat to the shadows. Just how is the legendary Prince of Darkness fared on the small and big screen in the peaceful few years before that other Batman swings back? In this first part, a look at NBC’s high profile adaptation… Er… Dracula.

DRACULA’S HUGE IMPACT ON POPULAR CULTURE BELIES THE ORIGINAL NOVEL’S LIFESPAN OF 118 YEARS. It was theatre and film that gave him wings, starting with a performance at the Lyceum penned by Stoker himself. And after a slow start the Count soon came to carve a significant cultural footprint in the 20th century thanks to the contemporary advent of film. Despite the legion vampires who have followed him he’s never stayed out of view… And as recent adaptations show there are plenty of facets left to explore.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

“Stoker’s real masterstroke was to ally vampirism with sophistication “

No real introduction is necessary. There are reasons why the vampire that Bram Stoker crafted stood cape and fangs above all the blood-suckers that had come before. While the tale was lodged in late Victoriana it has refused specific categorisation in invasion, horror or gothic genres. And that proved a significant benefit in the century that followed, with adaptations dragging Dracula into every genre imaginable.

Stoker’s opted to title his protagonist Dracula rather than the mooted Count Wampyr, for reasons unknown. Apart from a modicum of subtlety you would hope. There’s little to suggest that he knew a great deal about Vlad the Impaler, the 15th century member of House of Drăculești and infamous protector of the Romanian people, who went by the name of Dracula. Though by seizing that family name, Stoker opened up a treasure chest of exploration – as potent for writers as the more obvious facets of blood, horror and immortality. But away from Eastern European royalty, Stoker’s real masterstroke was to ally vampirism with sophistication. The central European locale, the entwining of love and vampirism, the superstitious deterrents… They had all existed before, notably in Dracula’s Irish near-comparator Sheridan le Fanu’s Camilla. But Stoker bolted on Victorian sensibilities to the myth of the vampire, including aristocracy, society standing, land-owning and the natural development of The Grand Tour. It was a compelling mix and one that proved irresistible when the character hit screens a few decades after publication: particularly Bela Lugosi’s imperious entrance on the stairs of Castle Dracula in 1931. Bram Stoker seized on many contemporary elements to craft his tale. And at the tail end of the gothic era it proved inspired and highly influential.

As with that other giant of Victorian literature, soon to earn a deerstalker and cape of his own, the temptation to update the 19th century setting is all the more irresistible when there is ready-made mystery in the origin. Although, as Hammer’s soulless and fairly disastrous Seventies updates to the myth show, it’s a tricky business. Still, the Count is endlessly resourceful in his reincarnation, and as recent adaptations show he’s as full-blooded as ever. Continue reading “Dracula: “Vlad about Town” – AD 2015 (Part One)”